Cathedral protest awakens dead organist who urinated on the dean

Yesterday’s climate protest disruption of Choral Evensong from Chichester Cathedral has reminded some of our more erudite commenters of a former organist who misbehaved far more luridly than the latterday chanters.

Tim writes: Sounds as if this evening’s protesters were much better behaved than Thomas Weelkes the Chichester Organist Choirmaster whose 400th anniversary the Choral Evensong was celebrating. Weelkes was ‘fined for urinating on the Dean from the organ loft during Evensong’. He was also ‘famed for being a common drunkard and notorious blasphemer’. The Dean and Chapter dismissed him for using bad language and being drunk during divine service and although he was later reinstated he repeated the offence.

Christian Climate Activists making dignified and reasoned objections to Chichester Diocesan Synod’s very recent and perverse decision to stay invested in zombie industries destroying God’s ‘good’ creation was a refreshing breath of fresh air compared to Weelkes’ scandalous interjections to divine office.

Hugh adds: Quite a turnaround for Thomas Weelkes that Chichester Cathedral should be celebrating his 400th anniversary, given his spectacular fall from grace with his employer towards the end of his life (he was dismissed from his post as Organist by the Chichester Cathedral authorities for being ‘a notorious drunkard and blasphemer’). It would seem he was an outrageous personality in other ways too, certainly not befitting a cathedral organist of the time (his marriage to Elizabeth Sandham in 1603 was clearly a shotgun wedding, given their first child Thomas was baptized less than 6 months later), so perhaps Mr. Weelkes looking down from above on the commemoration of his anniversary might be somewhat less appalled than the rest of us by the disruptive protest during the service, with his own apparently ‘larger than life’ personality.

Despite repeated warnings for drunken misconduct Weelkes was allowed to remain in his post until his death, aged 47, 400 years ago this week in 1623. He is buried in St Brides Fleet Street, parish church of British journalism which turned a blind eye to his weaknesses.